


i can do it

by AlmondRose



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, steph is robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-07 22:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11068323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmondRose/pseuds/AlmondRose
Summary: stephanie brown is determined to prove herself to batman.





	i can do it

Stephanie Brown hates her dad and Robin isn’t Robin anymore so she steals some of the money from under her bed and goes to the store to buy red and green and yellow fabric. 

 

She buys it, and goes home and sews, and her mom asks her what the heck she thinks she’s doing, and Steph tells her she’s stress sewing, which isn’t even a lie. 

 

She makes a Robin costume and breaks into the Batcave,  _ because she can,  _ and then Bruceman Batwayne tells her that sure, she can be Robin, and Steph  _ knows  _ it’s because he’s trying to lure Tim back. She just knows. 

 

So she vows to be the best Robin  _ ever  _ and prove herself  _ worthy  _ of being Robin, and that Bruce doesn’t even  _ need  _ stupid old Timberly.

 

\----

 

Steph’s training with Bruce and Alfred’s making her a Robin costume and everything’s pretty good. 

 

Every time Bruce complimnets her or tells her she’s going better, Steph reminds herself that Bruce is just trying to lure Tim back, but she can’t help but feel excited all the same. 

 

\----

 

Bruce gives her one last test before she can go out on the field as Robin. 

 

She has to talk to Nightwing first. 

 

Nightwing--Dick Grayson--has to approve of her, or whatever, before she can be Robin, because he was the first and it still technically belongs to him somehow or something. 

 

So she calls him up on the Batcomputer, and Bruce isn’t in the room but he’s probably watching. Creepy. 

 

Dick answers with a smiling face. 

 

“Hey there,” he says. 

 

“H-hi,” Steph says, trying not to be nervous. “Batman said that you have to, like, approve of me before I can be Robin.” 

 

Dick makes a funny face then snorts. 

 

“Weird,” he says. “That’s never stopped Bruce before.”

 

“What do you mean?” Steph asks, fiddling with her hair. 

 

“Well, I didn’t even know about Jason, like,  _ existing,  _ before he was Robin,” Dick says. “And Tim--well, Tim decided to be Robin of his own accord.”

 

“Oh,” Steph says. “Well, Batman never really--how do I say it-- _ trusted  _ me? He like, thought I was gonna be evil?”

 

“Because of your dad? That’s a load of crap,” Dick says. 

 

“I know,” Steph says dully. “He’s just stalling because he wants Tim to come back.”

 

“Probably,” Dick says. “Hey, kid, listen. I looked at some training footage, and you’re  _ really good.  _ Don’t try and measure yourself to Tim, okay? No two Robins have been the same.”

 

“But--”

 

“No buts,” Dick says. “I think you’ll be great, and you don’t need my permission.”

 

“Except I’m on probation,” Steph mutters. “And Bruce won’t let me do anything without getting fired.”

 

“That’s just talk,” Dick promises. “He won’t fire you. Now go, little bird, and be the best Robin yet.”

 

Steph feels like she might cry. 

 

“Thanks,” she says, and her voice only wobbles a little.

 

“No problem,” he says. “Welcome to the family, sis.”

 

\----

 

Steph is Robin and it’s the best thing to have ever happened to her. She does a backflip off the side of a roof and Batman leaps down next to her, and Robin grins as she fires her grapple to the next building. She’s really a part of something, now.

 

“Introducing,” she whispers. “The Girl Wonder!” She mimes cheering and hears Batman’s chuckle in her comm, and her grin gets bigger. 

 

\----

 

They have to go undercover and Bruce poses as Steph’s  _ dad  _ and she lays in the hotel room while Bruce pours over the case and she imagines, for a moment, that he actually was her dad, and it’s not that hard to imagine. 

 

He’d be heck of a lot better than her actual dad, and he’s adopted people before, right?

 

A warm rush of hope suddenly fills her, and  _ Stephanie Wayne  _ doesn’t sound half-bad.

 

\----

 

Dick’s blaring some kind of music in the kitchen while he makes cookies with Alfred, and Steph grabs Cass’s hands and twirls her around the kitchen. Cass is about four times more graceful than Steph, but she lets Steph lead and they dance around the kitchen together. 

 

“What’s all this?” Bruce asks, coming into the room and loosening his tie. 

 

“Family bonding,” Cass says, grinning at Bruce, and he slides over and steps in, taking Cass’s hands and spinning her around to the music, while Steph claps and dances alone, until Dick slides some cookies into the oven and reaches for her, and they dance together. 

 

\----

 

Steph is invited to a Wayne gala for another undercover thingy, and she’s only been to one other as Tim’s date, but Bruce presents her as a ward and Dick winks at her and Steph wonders if it’s gonna become a reality. 

 

\----

 

“Good job, Robin!” Batman says and Steph knows it’s real, knows it’s genuine. She grins at him and he says, “Maybe I should take you off of probation.”

 

He doesn’t, not yet, but Steph does backflips around the cave because she  _ did it.  _

 

\----

 

Steph is curled up at movie night and her mom’s going to start real rehab and Cass’s leaning on Steph’s shoulder and Bruce hands Steph some popcorn and Steph stares at the movie that she doesn’t remember the title of and Steph thinks that it doesn’t matter if she’s adopted or made a ward or whatever, because she already knows that she’s a part of the family. 

 

\----

 

“You’re fired,” Bruce says flatly, no sugar coating it. “You have one hour to gather your things, then I’m changing the passcodes and locking you out. Don’t come back.”

 

Steph’s heart shatters, and she  _ feels  _ Stephanie Wayne die. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! comments/kudos always welcome!!


End file.
